The premise of Unsound, a part of Illuminate Adelaide is to bring artists together who don’t suit a mainstream audience. Experimental noise probably generally describes the genre. The type of artistry that is polarising. People either love it or hate it. Fortunately, the audience was more of the “love it” type.
The opening act of Lee Gamble on music, with music from his album Models, had Virginia Martin Mateos in a tight-fitting white jumpsuit and harnessed to two long chains on stage. The piece was called “Models w’ Candela Capitán” and Mateos spent the time writhing and contorting to try to create the most flattering selfies. The chains held her back from creating her full potential. Yet, no matter how much she twisted and turned, there was always something better around the corner—an amusing and fun way to begin the event.
There was nothing amusing or fun about the following artist, Marco Fusinato. He is a noise-musician whose work consists of a long shredded guitar solo with images of war, destruction and carnage, overlaid with graphic text projected behind him. It was a powerful performance, but not for the faint-hearted.
Japanese-based musicians Jim O’Rouke and Eiko Ishibashi brought some more stylised sounds to the evening. Legends of the Japanese music industry, Ishibashi is known for the soundtrack from movie Drive My Car. The pair created beautifully haunting music with a feeling of sadness and empty spaces.
Norwegian artist Bendik Giske uses the saxophone as an extension of his personality. Dressed in a flowing black dress and close-cropped blonde hair, he evoked a feeling of a lost and lonely French evening. Creating sounds that seemed unreal from his instrument, he elevated and danced with the audience.
The final act of the evening had 33EMYBW on the decks, with visual artist Joey Holder projecting works on the screen behind. Shanghai native 33EMYBW (Wu Shanmin) has been an active member in the Chinese music scene for over a decade. A core member of Shanghai’s most well known experimental rock/electronic band ‘Duck Fight Goose’, over the years 33 has been a member of numerous bands including 33 Island, Boojii and Muscle Snog. Her dance-infused electronic music was a pleasant way to finish the evening.
Bringing together such a diverse and eclectic mix of artists is no mean feat and the Unsound Team can be proud of what they collected and presented to the audience.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Illuminate Adelaide runs over winter. Check out more details here
